Off the Coast of the Eastern Forest of Kohyee

Aboard a small vessel a party of brave adventurers seek to establish new lives for themselves. Each have their own reasons and all of those reasons bring them here now, together. Recently there has been rumor of a province in the Eastern Forest that is offering land to those of unique skill. What skills those are exactly are yet to be seen but the promise of land has been more than enough to intrigue dozens of souls to flock to the location of this rumored province.

"We should see land soon." The captain said to the party on the deck below. "Well perhaps not see through this blasted fog but we'll know we're close once we see the beam of the lighthouse passing overhead!" The captain was a well built fellow for his age, white of hair and gray of chest. He wore a loose white shirt open at the chest, perhaps due to choice but mostly because the buttons had been chipped away long ago.

"I could of sworn we'd be close now." The captain said to himself. He had been to these shores many a time to sell his fish to the local settlement, the same one the party below was seeking. A couple years ago the province had built a large light house to ensure ships never hit the rocky cliffs along the shore. It's beam of light could be seen through the thickest of fogs, but its light he could not see. He squeenched his eyes as he tried to make out what was before them. Just as the captain began to question their location the ship shook and the sound of wood shattering could be heard.

"HOLD ON!" He turned the wheel with great effort but it was too late, the small ship was going to crash.

CSSHHH, PHEW!




The party finds themselves thrown across the sand along the face of a cliff. The captain was still aboard his ship laid across the right side. "Hack, heck. Curses. Where the devil is the lighthouse?" He put his right arm over the railing of the ship and lifted himself up, putting his left hand alongside his right to help gather his balance. For the first time he could now see what lie before them. "There she is..." Further down the beach where the cliff protuded, debris lay scattered across the beach. Stone walls lay in an arch from cliff top to sea bottom. Just above the waves the captain could make out the metalwork of the light house's peak.

"What in Chaos' name has happened here?" Suddenly pain ripped through the captain's body and he fell to his knees. "Heck, hack." He pulled his hand away from his mouth to see his skin stained in crimson. He looked down to see a large chunk off wood puncturing through his gut. He laid back and saw that one of the shafts of the wheel had broken off and now lay embedded into his intestines. It must have broke off into him when he was thrown against the wheel. He grabbed the shrapnel and began to pull but the pain was too much. He would die here, that much was certain. It was only a matter of time. His vision grew blurry and he mumbled to himself, "I had only hoped I would die in the embrace of the sea."

Mier was woken up the by the violence of the sea. In one sudden moment his vision was completely blurred as he struggled keeping his breath while pulled below the waves as the salt stung his eyes. The moment seemed to last an eternity until he was unceremoniously spat onto the shore. Luckily for him, he was fine and the only issues were the sand and water getting everywhere and his box was missing. He'd run along the shore finding the box and inspecting it, becoming relived to see it managed to hold airtight.

He'd continue searching along for any survivors just in case, before he'd make his way to the lighthouse. Already he was uncomfortable with the sand chafing everywhere. He stumbled across the dying Captain in his sorry condition. With a flourish he took out a guitar and began playing tun. "Old man, your death is premature." Was all he said as he played his tune which carried a revitalizing magic.

Ade stood on the deck of the ship, leaning over the railing as it sailed through the water, a heavy fog covering them all. Strapped to his back was his blue and white round shield, and hanging at his hip through a loop was a heavy looking hammer. He wore simple clothes: a blue and brown tunic with black breeches and a pair of boots. Whatever armour he had made back home he sold off to get enough coin for this voyage to a new land. A land that promised riches, adventures, and lives in which they could shape from their own hands. He had dreams, Ade, dreams where he would make himself a manor in one of the established cities, a large piece of land that he owned that would pass from generation to generation. He knew of some that wanted to be kings, and others that wanted to be lords.

He had no such dreams himself. He just wanted a large piece of land that would suffice him and his offsprings for generations. He would leave the rest to others, to the more ambitious individuals. Not that he wasn't ambitious, but his laid elsewhere, in more material things that he could physically touch. And make. Ade turned his head when the captain shouted that they were near land. It was about time, he thought to himself as he pushed off of the railings and walked towards the middle of the deck. That's when the ship started shuddering; with nothing to hold on to, Ade fell to a knee with a curse and before he could realize what was happening he was lifted into the air as if thrown by some invisible force off the ship and fell in shallow water.

He sat up sputtering and with a heavy gasp of air when he looked to the ship as if to lay blame to the captain when he saw the vessel in near ruins, shattered upon large, heavy rocks. His eyes widened as he stood up uncertainly and noticed one of the passengers make their way to the captain who happened to have a spoke piercing his abdomen. He didn't know much about wounds, seeing as he'd never fought anything in his life besides a few brawls, but everyone knew a wound to the stomach was as close to a death sentence as one could get without actually getting one. Then, the passenger brought out a guitar and started singing. Ade blinked, taken aback. He looked around uncertainly in confusion, not fully understanding what was going on.

Shrugging to himself, he approached the passenger and the captain and knelt then laid a hand on the captain's shoulder, sparing a glance for the singing madman and looked the captain in the eyes. "Look at me and brace," he said. "Just keep looking and brace." Then he suddenly pulled the spoke out with a savage grunt, stumbling back a step. He looked down at the bloody piece of wood and tossed it to the side. "We should find a healer," he said. "Before this good man dies."

[POST EXPUNGED]

The Elfheim had been surprised when she first met one of her kind. She did not know that there were others like her. People of nature, who were once one thing and were now something else. When she had first ventured into the places that person had come from, she was met and taken care of by others. She was informed of everything she needed, and took up a name of her own. Autumn. A season that the world ventures into once a year. It seemed like a nice name. Some had complaints about it, but she had already made her choice.

They had spent some time to get her used to actual interaction, having her practice with them as partners, but she nearly always spoke in such a way that normal conversation was impossible. Furthermore, her preferred occupation was...strange for their kind. Autumn wished to build. Not just to push walls together or craft wooden equipment and machines, but to work a forge, get close to flames and mold metal into a shape. Given what they were made of, it was dangerous...but Autumn wanted it. She had the knowledge of it, gained from the one that gave her feeling in the first place. She knew how to do it, and insisted on the practice.

It was only after they had suggested she use her knowledge to help others in a new land that she had gotten on a ship. The people were...different from the one she knew first. They were quiet and loud. Eager and awkward. Concerned and disinterested. They were not the same. She knew to expect that, but Autumn still felt uncomfortable around them. Of course, the feeling of a ship being tossed about wasn’t really good either. It didn’t help that it not only got worse, but proceeded to throw everyone to land. Autumn corrected her positioning when she finished skimming across the sand. After recovering, she looked up to find people singing to the injured captain, and a stranger walking into what was left of the seafaring vessel.

Yang exited the boat, though it had crashed he didn't seem all too bothered about it. Instead he adjusted his attire as he left and walked onto the beach. He took in the sites around him, he could see the captain laid out, his wound had just been opened by the wood being removed by a man, whilst another sang him a song; it wasn't the best Yang had heard but he thought if it was the last time for a dying man it wouldn't have been too bad.

He turned his head around as he approached the captain on the beach to see not only a scavenger attempting to grab something off the vessel but also what appeared to be a moving tree. He crouched down next to the captain and his two nurses. "Hello Gentlemen, truly a sad day. A fleeting tune for a long life. We shall morne you." He said before realising his wound had been healed by the song.

"Is what I'd say if you had not survived this encounter. What marvelous tenacity you have sir."

Healed but faint of energy, the captain looked from side to those around him, "You surely are an odd bunch." He tried to stand but instead took a knee, it felt like he had done a hundred situps more than he could handle and his stomach was a twisted knot, but he supposed it was better than death. "I thank you..." He shook the hands of the two who had saved him "each of you."

The captain looked about at his surroundings once more. His ship was a wreck, quite literally, and a man seemed to be wandering off with what looked like the hilt of his rapier sticking out from the man's bag. He shrugged it off, he was in no condition to start a fight and he wasn't fond of being torn a new hole in his gut to replace the last one. "It seems we have found the promised land," He looked to either side, "But the land isn't quite as we expected it to be." The captain took a breath, "I don't recall if we had a proper introduction and seeing as I won't be sailing off and waving goodbye as I had intended perhaps it is best I stick around."

With a bit of struggle, the middle-aged man put two hands to his knees and straightened himself up. "The names Geralt. I'm not from these parts but I have been here more than a time or two." Geralt looks to the rubble that was once a lighthouse, "With any luck, the settlement isn't as bad off as the lighthouse here. I could serve as a guide of sorts if you'd like." He looks back to his ship, "Or I could get to work breaking down my fair lady into something more useful should you not need me to accompany you." He shakes the hands of those that saved him once again, walks over to the helm of his once ship and rests his back against it. "The choice is yours friends."

"You would discard her so easily?", asked Autumn.

While she would appreciate a guide to help them throughout this new place, she couldn't help but feel a little concerned. She was somewhat dissappointed that a person whose occupation had led her to believe that they loved their sea-faring vessels as close companions. The way this one spoke of his vessel...It was as if it was meant to only be a tool, and nothing else. Honestly, she could not help but feel a bit of offense to that.

"Can she not be repaired as she is now?"

"No problem" Was all he said to the Captain.

The man put his instrument back into the case and then walked away. It was not up to him to decide what to do with the remains of the ship. Either choice worked and he had no preference. The man looked at the lighthouse at the distance for a while. He then let his gaze wonder around the surrounding location. He was mentally figuring out the general direction of how to get there. He figured that would be the best place to go next. As such, he began to walk slowly into the general direction of the of lighthouse.

Ade was still somewhat in shock at the way the music had healed the Captain but soon snapped out of it. "Why don't you do a bit of both?" He offered as he stepped up to the Captain. "You could help us get to the nearest settlement and we can help you men and money to repair your ship as thanks."

It seemed a good idea to him, to give whatever small money he could earn to the Captain in order to help repair his ship, but he couldn't speak for the others. The tree-looking sentient creature seemed to want to help, but he didn't know how far that help would go. If it came to it however, he'd help the Captain on his own; it was the right thing to do after all, considering all the man gave up for their journey.

Yang adjusted himself, standing tall. "Excellent idea sir, I am sure there will be many in a town that will be willing to lend us money." What he had said should have been perfectly normal but the way he had empathized his words had allowed it to change the meaning completely. He looked towards the town as he reflected, who is leading them? Are they meant to all work together? What happens once the captain leaves? Why are the rest of them here?